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APPARATUS FOR RINGING BELLS.

No. 392,072. Patented Oct. 30, 1888.

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APPARATUS FOR RINGING BELLS. No. 392,072. Patented Oct. 30, 1888.

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APPARATUS FOR RINGING BELLS.

No. 892,072. Patented Oct. 30, 1888.

NiTe STATES PATENT rricn.

WILHELM SOHOUREN, OF BRAOH'I, PRUSSIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO FELIXTONNAR, OF DULKEN, GERMANY.

APPARATUS FOR RINGING BELLS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 392,072, dated October30, 1888.

Application filed April 11, 1888. Serial No. 270,299.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILHELM SGHOUREN, of the city of Bracht, in theKingdom of Prussia and German Empire, have invented a certain new anduseful Improvement in Apparatus for Ringing Bells ofBell-Towers, ofwhich the following is a specification, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

This invention relates to an improved method of and apparatus forringing the bells of belltowers.

According to the method heretofore usually employed for ringing thebells of bell-towers it was necessary to impart a reciprocating swingingmovement to the bells themselves, which required a belfry of substantialand costly construction; but even then it sometimes happened,particularly in the case of bells of extraordinary weight and size, thatrather dangerous oscillations were imparted to the belfry.

To avoid this objection is the object of my invention; and it consistsin the features of construction and combination of devices, hereinafterdescribed and claimed, for operating the clapper while the bell remainsstationary, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which-Figure 1 is an end View of my improved apparatus, partly in section.Fig. 2 is a similar side view thereof. Fig. 3 shows a detail. Fig. 4 isan end view, partly in section, illustrating modified means forimparting reciprocating motion to the clapper. Fig. 5 is a similar sideview of Fig. 4. Figs. 6 and 7 are views similar to Figs. 4. and 5,respectively, showing a modified arrangementin the suspension of theclapper.

In Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings the bell A is suspended rigidly in thebelfry, and the clapper B forms no part of the bell, but is pivotallyfastened by means of a bolt, d, between the upper ends of two arms, G,which enter the bell, so that the free end of said clapper, on beingswung to and fro, will strike against the inside of the stationary bellA at or near the lower rim of the latterthat is, near the same point atwhich the bells were heretofore struck by their clappers suspendedfreely within and forming part of them. The ends (No model.)

or frame-work, A, below the bell, and provided with a double-armedlever, G, rigidly fastened to the shaft D, and having a hook or otherfastening device applied to each of its lever ends for the reception oftwo ropes or chains, J, the other ends of which are attached to the twowebs J of a cranked shaft, J journaled in bearings J and rotated bymeans of a hand-wheel, J, and handle J The webs J, being arrangedopposite each other, will, on being rotated, act to pull downward firstthe one rope J and then the other, and, consequently, first the one endof the doublearmed lever G and next the other, thus transmitting anoscillating motion to the shaft D, carrying the fixed arms 0, andthereby causing the latter and the clapper B, pivoted between theirupper ends, to be swung regularly first in the one and next in theopposite direction, the clapper moving onward and striking the bellevery time that or somewhat after the oscillating shaft D and its fixedarms have arrived at their dead-point position.

Instead of attaching a rope to each end of the said double-armed leverG, one end of the same may be provided with a weight, J, Fig. 3, tocounteract the strain of the rope J, attached to the opposite end of thesaid lever, the said rope having its other end attached to an eccentric(not shown) rotated by a handle or in any suitable manner-such as inFig. 2-- the said eccentric pulling the rope J and the end of the leverG downward,whiletheweight J 6 will act to raise the rope again and tobring its own end of the lever G down, thus causing the requiredoscillating motion of the shaft D, carrying the said fixed arms G, withthe clapper B, as heretofore described.

To insure a steady and regular motion, the oscillating shaft D carries asuspended pendulum, E, rigidly attached to the shaft and provided with abob, F, capable of being adjusted and filled with suitable ponderousmaterial, for the purpose of regulating or controlling the said motionand for assisting in overcoming the dead-points in the return movementof the clapper.

In some cases I dispense with the means stated for imparting oscillatingmotion to the shaft D by hand and produce the said motion quiteautomatically. In such case, which is illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 ofthe drawings, I

arrange below the shaft to be oscillated another shaft, L, suitablyjournaled at L in the frame-work below the bell A, and provided with twofixed ratchet-wheels, K K, and a fixed pulley, N, the latter being actedupon by a rope, O, carrying at its free end a weight, 0, by the strainof which it is unwound from a drum, (not shown,) so that it will turnthe pulley N, and thus impart rotary movement 1 to the lower shaft, L,and to the ratchetwheels K K, rigidly mounted thereon, in a reversedmanner. During their rotation the hollowed teeth of the ratchet-wheels KK will alternately come in contact with two pawls, m m, fixed upon theshaft D to be oscillated,

, the said pawls projecting therefrom in opposite directions, so thatfirst the wheel K strikes against the pawl m and throws it forward,whereupon the other wheel, K, will act upon the other pawl, m, so thatthe said pawls, on coming in contact with their ratchet-wheels, will actat the same time to limit the extent of the oscillating movement thusproduced of the shaft D and its arms C and clapper B, the said 0movement being likewise controlled in this arrangement by a pendulum, E,applied as be fore stated.

It will be seen that the pawl m, on striking against one of the teeth ofthe ratchet-wheel 3 5 K, will arrest the rotary motion of the latter fora moment, but is then thrown forward again by the said wheel K, underthe strain of the weighted rope 0, so that the shaft D and the pendulumE will oscillate in an opposite direction until the pawl m, by coming incontact with one of the teeth of the ratchet-wheel K, will stop thisoscillating motion of the shaft D and pendulum E again. The position ofthe ratchet-wheel K on the shaft L being reversed to that of theratchet-wheel K, the tooth of the former, under the strain of theweighted rope 0, will raise the pawl m at once again, so that thependulum E will swing back and oscillate the shaft D in an opposite 5odirection until its pawl in will strike against the next tooth of theratchet-wheel K, whereupon the same play just described will berepeated.

It will be noticed that the pendulum E, after 5 having come into itsdead-point position by the pawl m being arrested by the ratchet wheel K,will, by means of its gravitation, assist in raising the said pawl m outof contact with the said wheel K, so that it will be free to swing backagain and bring the pawl an in contact with the ratchet-wheel K,imparting a fresh impulse to the said pawl, shaft D, and pendulum.

The modification of my invention, as illus- ,6 5 trated in Figs. 6 and 7of the drawings, shows that in lieu of the straight shaft D a crankedshaft may as well be applied and the pendulum E suspended from the web1' of such shaft. In this modification, which illustrates a preferablearrangement and combination of parts in accordance with my presentinvention, the motion of the pendulum is transmitted to the clapper B inthe following manner-that is to say: Upon the foundation plate carryingthe bearings e of the pendulumshaft D are fixed the two standards 0*, inthe upper ends of which is journaled the shaft d, to which are fixed thearm B of the clapper B and the two levers d. It will be noticed that inorder to obtain an easier movement of the clapper B the latter is hingedto its arm B at s, and, further, that the levers (1 may be regardedpractically as one two-armed lever connected by the intermediate portionof the shaft d, to which they are rigidly secured. The ends of theselevers (or two-armed lever) d are linked by means of the links G to theends of similar levers, d fixed upon the pendnlum-shaftD. Both thelevers d and d assume a horizontal position when the arm B of theclapper B is in its vertical position or at rest. The oscillating motionof the pendulum E and the rocking motion of the shaft D thereby prodneed, as hereinbefore described, cause, by means of the levers d fixedto the said shaft, 9 5 and by means of the links 0, reciprocated by thelatter, the levers (or two-armed lever) d to be likewise raised andpulled downward alternately, and thus to transmit a rocking motion tothe shaft (2, carrying the fixed arm B, with the clapper B, so that thelatter will strike the bell A alternately. The means for imparting therequired oscillating motion to the shaft D, carrying the pendulum E, arenot illustrated in this modification for the sake of to 5 clearness, andfor the reason that they are the same as and do not differ as regardstheir function from those shown in the preceding figures, and ashereinbefore described. It will be noticed that in this modification thedesired length of the stroke of the clapper B in proportion to thelength of the stroke of the pendulum E allows of being regulated readilyand nicely by choosing the length of the lever-arms d in the properproportion to that of the lever-arms d as it will be seen that by makingthe length of the arms (2, as compared to the length of the arms d in aproportion of one to two, the angle of motion of the clapper B will betwice the size of the angle through which the pendulum E moves, so thatby these means a long and powerful stroke of the clapper can already beobtained, even if the pendulum E is reciprocated only through arelatively small field of oscillation.

The bell-ringing apparatus, as herein described, allows ofbeingconstructed at a rela tively small cost as compared to the meansheretofore employed, and compares favorably with the latter in respectof simplicity of construction and appliance, and requires by far lesspower for being put and kept in operation,

while the body of the bell cannot, practically, be worn away, since thesame, after years,may be turned slightly on its vertical axis, so as tobring other portions of its inner surface in contact with the swingingclapper.

Having thus described my invention, whatI claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, with a bell, of a rocking shaft, a weighted pendulumsuspended from and oscillated by the rocking shaftand entirelydisconnected from the bell, a freelysnspended clapper disconnected fromthe bell, and means for turning the rocking shaft to escillate thependulum, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with abell, of a framework under the bell, arock-shaft journaled on the frame-work, aweighted pendulum hung from therock-shaft below the bell, a clapper supported by the rock-shaft anddisconnected from the bell, and means for rocking the rockshaft tooperate the pendulum, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with a bell, of a rockshaft supported below thebell, a weighted pendulum suspended from the shaft, two arms rising fromsaid shaft into the bell and disconnected from the latter, a clapperfreely suspended from the upper ends of the said arms, and means forrocking the said rock-shaft to oscillate the pendulum, substantially asdescribed.

i. In an apparatus for ringing bells, a twoarmed pendulum fulcrumed inthe vertical axis of and below the body of the bell, the upper arm ofsaid pendulum arranged to oscillate within the body of the bell, formingthe center of oscillation for the clapper, in combination with means forimparting reciprocating motion to the said pendulum, substantially asand for the purpose specified.

5. The combination, with a bell, of'a weighted oscillating pendulumfulcrumed below the mouth of the bell and having a portion rising intothe bell and disconnected therefrom, and a freelysuspended clapper hungfrom said rising portion, substantially as described.

6. In an apparatus for ringing bells, the rock-shaft D, carrying a fixedtwo-armed pendulum,the upper part of which extends within a fixed bell,in combination with an oscillating two-armed lever, G, mounted on therock-shaft, and having the two suspended ropes J, sub stantially as andfor the purpose specified.

7. In an apparatus for ringing bells, the rock-shaft D, carrying a fixedtwo-armed pendulum,the upper part of which extends within a fixed bell,in combination with an oscillating two-armed lever, G, mounted on therock-shaft, and having the two suspended ropes J, the lower ends ofwhich are fastened to webs projecting in opposite directions from acranked shaft, and means for rotating the latter, substantially as andfor the purpose specified.

8. In an apparatus for ringing bells, the rock-shaft D, carrying a fixedtwoarined pendulum,the upper part of which extends within a fixed bell,in combination with an oscillating two-armed lever, G,mounted on therock-shaft, and having the two suspended ropes J, the lower end of oneof which carries a counterweight, substantially as and for the purposespecified.

In testimony whereof Ihave signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILH. SOHOUREN.

Vitnesses:

WM. DENGLER, FELIX TONNAR.

